20 Best Science Fiction Movies Released Since 2000

14. Mr Nobody (2009)

Nowadays Jared Leto’s name is a byphrase for disaster, associated as he is with such grand disasters as Morbius and Suicide Squad. But this wasn’t always the case. Once upon a time, before we knew him as Paolo Gucci or Ares, Leto was quietly making his name in a string of smaller gems, including Requiem for a Dream; American Psycho; Girl, Interrupted; and, of course, Mr Nobody.

Mr Nobody finds Leto perfectly cast as protagonist Nemo Nobody, the last mortal man living in 2092, now approaching his death. We journey through Nemo’s life in vivid detail, from when he was a child living with his mother, through his time as a teenager with his father, and as an adult, seizing his own destiny – or, destinies. Because Nemo’s life is a divergence of multitudes, and we see many possible pasts, blurring the lines between what actually happened (if there even is just one truth) and the choices he didn’t make.

No doubt Mr Nobody is a head-scratcher, but its Sliding Doors use of alternate possibilities and tangent timelines make it a rich tapestry that defies conventional storytelling. This all builds to a mesmerising final sequence that lets us have our cake and eat it, in which many pasts are confirmed while they simultaneously come undone. It’s a love story, a tragedy, and a science fiction epic, all rolled into one.